YouTube is thrilled to debut "Shawn Mendes," its latest Artist Spotlight Story, created in collaboration with international pop phenomenon Shawn Mendes. The Spotlight Story gives fans an authentic and intimate look into Shawn’s life following the launch of his latest self-titled album. Mendes has grown to be one of the most popular musicians today with a massive fanbase that stemmed from his early YouTube uploads covering other artists.

"It was just about doing it for fun and posting videos,” Shawn recalls of his earliest YouTube uploads in "Shawn Mendes," the latest installment of the Artist Spotlight Stories series from YouTube Music. “I wasn't dreaming about stadiums, or Grammys. I was dreaming of my friends being like, 'That's very cool. I love that. You sounded great.' I just wanted to be that guy who sang and played guitar on YouTube.”

Directed by YouTube Creator, filmmaker, and longtime friend Casey Neistat, "Shawn Mendes" looks back on Mendes’ journey from uploading covers to YouTube in his suburban-Toronto bedroom to performing on the world’s biggest stages as he gets ready to release his self-titled third album. Casey follows Shawn on the road and documents his rise to stardom through revealing interviews that showcase Shawn’s hard-working nature and youthful resilience.

With 15.7 million fans subscribed to his official channel, the three-time Juno winner is currently one of the biggest musicians on the planet. He's racked up 2.2 billion views across YouTube in the past 12 months alone, with “Treat You Better” and “Stitches” both passing the billion-view mark — making him the youngest artist to have more than one video break nine digits. More recently, his 2018 anthem “In My Blood” charted on YouTube in over 15 countries and landed the singer three MTV VMA nominations.

YouTube Music’s Artist Spotlight Stories are intimate and personal video portraits of artists who are pushing the boundaries of creativity and connecting with fans in unique and powerful ways on YouTube. Recent YouTube Spotlight Stories include Janelle Monáe: "A Revolution of Love," J Balvin: "Redefining Mainstream," G-Eazy: "These Things Happened," and Camila Cabello: "Made in Miami." The series is meant to shine a light on artist journeys and how they have leveraged YouTube to be successful, in hopes that their stories inspire others in the music community to do the same.